KANSAS

For his new show at Sean Kelly Gallery, Luis Casebere built scale models of Luis Barragán houses and photographed them, creating an optical illusion of the architect’s idealized spaces. I want to live in one of these. [Dezeen]

Walead Beshty’s FedEx Works are the stuff of art handlers’ nightmares. [This is Colossal]

Anyone looking for a job in Kansas? The Wichita Art Museum is seeking a new curator. [The Wichita Eagle]

Baltimore’s new Mayor Catherine Pugh has created a Safe Arts Space Task Force following the eviction of the DIY space The Bell Foundry and Ghost Ship fire in Oakland. We’re happy to see names such as Lu Zhang, Dan Deacon, and Stewart Watson on task force, but this thing kinda seems like a mess in general. Tracey Knuckles, “a consultant on Bloomberg Associates’ Cultural Assets Management team” (what is that?!?) cited “successful” policies in New York and London that Baltimore can learn from to preserve affordable live/work housing… because if any two cities in the English-speaking world have been successful at preserving affordable artist live/work housing, it’s those two? [City Paper]

Here’s some uncharacteristically good news from the real estate sector: now is the time to negotiate with your Brooklyn or Manhattan landlord. Apparently the rental market is starting to correct, and is experiencing some “stess.” [Curbed]

Hate read alert: Ivanka Trump may or may not own a Richard Prince artwork that appears to be a screenshot of her own Instagram account, and Richard Prince may-or-may-not have disavowed it (or it might be “fake” in the first place?). All of this potential drama is of course playing out on social media. [artnet News]

Here’s a list of museums participating in next week’s art strike on inauguration day. Prepare to be depressed. They’re all staying open except for the ones that had planned to be closed for other reasons. [ARTnews]

The gallery strike participation list is a lot less depressing. [Hyperallergic]

Artist and Standing Rock resident Cannupa Hanska Luger talks to Carolina Miranda about the protests. “We’re not just in protest of a pipeline. What we are trying to do is maintain a cultural practice.” [Culture: High & Low]

Looking for ways to get out of this political mess we’re in? The kids have some ideas. Flippable gives people on their mailing list daily tasks in preparation for the upcoming fight for seats in 2018. [Flippable]

Josh Roth is the art lawyer tasked with assembling United Talent Agency’s art team, essentially responsible for the Hollywood agency’s controversial move into representing visual artists. There’s a lot of concern that UTA is going to disrupt traditional artist/gallery/audience relationships and reward entertainment-style spectacle. After reading this interview with him, the whole endeavor seems to make a bit more sense. Maybe this isn’t the L.A. art apocalypse it’s been made out to be? [VICE]

Well, everyone should’ve seen this coming: secondary market prices for “emerging” artists such as Hugh Scott-Douglas and Lucien Smith are way below the prices they commanded in 2014. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Those prices were over-inflated by speculators just buying to flip, and the correction keeps the primary market in check. Will this encourage young artists and gallerists to stop churning out endless quantities of soulless crapstraction? [Bloomberg]

Andrew Sullivan’s long-form reflection on his (very common) addiction to a constant data stream of social media as a professional blogger is a good read and very relatable… until about ⅘ of the way through, when it’s suggested that yoga, Burning Man, and organized religion are productive alternatives to wean us off Facebook. The first 10 minutes of this essay had me convinced that living real life should be enough. [New York Magazine]

This is a great idea. Berlin has trained refugees displaced by ISIS and the associated civil wars as museum guides to give other refugees tours in Arabic. [The Art Newspaper]

Headline of the week: A Sex Toy Lawsuit Highlights Privacy Concerns Around “Smart” Dildos. The lawsuit centers around “We-Vibe” a dildo that can be controlled via smartphone, and collects data like intensity settings, frequency and date of us. Personally, I’m (Paddy) far less concerned about the privacy issues than I am baffled by the need for such a “smart” product to exist in the first place. To use a dildo you have to hold it in your hand…just like a phone. Isn’t this just complicating the whole procedure? [Motherboard]

We’ve been fascinated by the story of Rebecca Moss, the artist-in-residence aboard a cargo vessel owned by Hanjin Shipping Company. After the Korean company declared bankruptcy, no port would allow the ship to dock out of fear the parent company wouldn’t be able to pay fees. She’s been stranded at sea by this bizarre situation until September 17th, when the ship was allowed to dock in Tokyo, where she’s now catching up with art world folks. [artnet News]

That giant statue of Lenin atop the East Village apartment building Red Square has been removed. This comes amid rumors that the complex has been sold to developer Dermot Company. Sad. There’s gotta be some joke in here about capitalism winning over the East or something. [Curbed]

Kansas Gallery is closing after five years. The gallery was located across the street from Postmasters on Franklin Street in Tribeca. They showed a lot of great young talent and will be missed. [AFC Inbox]

In other “Kansas” news, Wichita-based artist Curt Clonts wrote a short opinion piece condemning trendy art as social-media-focused or else overtly political “crap”. What’s remarkable about this is the backlash/conversation it started—after igniting heated debate locally online, the Wichita art space Harvester Arts is hosting a public forum to discuss the piece. I can’t tell if living somewhere where one short piece of art criticism ranting could become such a hotly contested issue would be inspiring or crazily suffocating. Either way, it’s good to see people care. [The Wichita Eagle]

Manhattan galleries continue to migrate east. Case in point: KANSAS, which has spent several years in Tribeca on Franklin Street, will start making the move this summer to 210 Rivington Street. The Lower East Side is known for its emerging galleries, home-grown boutiques, dumplings—and some artists still live and work there. Tribeca, on the other hand, is where celebrities and their pooches vie for sidewalk space among million-dollar apartments.

Time for round two of massive openings. After over a year, CANADA Gallery finally reopens in its new Broome street space, right across from P!. On Thursday night, Chelsea opens. On Friday night, something’s going down at the Redhook galleries, but we’re not sure what. And tomorrow, we hope Cleopatra’s doubles its benefit goals for artist, curator, and Dependent Fair founder Rose Marcus, to help her pay for major surgery–and so do many talented artists who’ve contributed to her benefit auction. All that, and more, after the jump!

With Independence Day on the horizon, it’s no surprise that every New York gallery and museum seems to be opening a new show, hosting a workshop, or putting on an art event. Next week, the art world retreats to the Hamptons. A focus on the collective seems to be the theme of choice this summer, be it collective practice at Klaus Von Nichtssagend, collective movement at the EFA, or simply an art collective at the Brooklyn Museum.

Virtually any mid-sized sculpture would look good in the front gallery of KANSAS. Marked by large windows, warm wooden floors and a ramp leading down to the main gallery space, the sight lines and interior are designed to display artwork in a flattering light.

This isn't so different from most galleries—artworks sell better when they are glorified—but it's worth mentioning because the space re-enforces the warmth of KANSAS’s current group show. Cheat Chains and Telephones (through February 18th) demonstrates at every turn the power of both the handmade object and a good joke.